Helpful hints and friendly notes from the world-acclaimed photography instructors at BetterPhoto.com

February 2012

February 22, 2012

The photo above was taken recently during my annual Venice photography workshop. This is a 17th century palace, and the interior of the room is much darker than the bright daylight seen through the windows. Due to the extreme contrast - in other words, the large discrepancy in exposure between the model and the windows - I had three choices in dealing with this situation:

1. I could expose correctly for the model and the interior and allow the windows to blow out.

2. I could expose for the windows which would make the model very dark and the room would also be underexposed significantly.

3. I could use an artificial light source, like a flash, to lighten the model and then expose for both the windows and her - but then the high ceiling and the walls would be very dark. In order to light this cavernous room, I would need an enormous number of lights, and it would take two days to do it correctly.

I opted to expose correctly for the model and the room and allow the windows to blow out. Usually, blown highlights are something to avoid. In this case, I feel that the very light curtains and the overexposed daylight adds an ethereal quality to this picture. I like it a lot even though, in most cases, this is usually something I avoid.

February 21, 2012

By zeroing in on the smaller picture within the bigger view, you can often spotlight graphic-design elements such as pattern, line, color, etc.

Best yet, with macro photography (extreme close-ups), you don’t have to travel far to find eye-catching subjects. You can explore the intriguing world of macro just about anywhere.

One example is my recent macro photo project (below), in which the "star" of the show is an old serving dish that caught my attention at a second-hand shop. From a photography point of view, it turned out to be a worthwhile purchase!

The dish is clear glass, but as the "overall set-up" image shows, the background provided the color - red and blue lawn chairs, plus an orange umbrella. I then moved in tight with my macro lens and focused on the dish's graphic-design elements (pattern and line). See Macro Dish Design 1 and 2.

February 13, 2012

If you are not shooting landscapes at sunrise and sunset, you are missing the best photo opportunities. I’m not talking about early morning or late afternoon; rather, I’m specifically referring to the first few minutes after the sun peeks above the horizon and the last few minutes before it disappears in the evening. It is these magical times that the golden light is spectacular, as you can see in this sunrise shot on Torres del Paine in Patagonia, Chile.

It is certainly disappointing if you get up before dawn, drive somewhere in the dark, and wait for what you hope will be a beautiful sunrise, only to see a cloud cover that obliterates the sun. But when nature cooperates, it’s true magic. It’s worth the hassle because you will enjoy the wonderful images you’ve captured forever.

February 12, 2012

When composing an image, it really pays to pay special attention to the basic elements of design. These graphics include pattern, line, shape, form, texture, color and repetition. Even if the lighting is wonderful and dramatic, if your photo isn’t graphically pleasing, then the chances are the picture will fall short of your hopes.

You may already use design elements subconsciously, at least in obvious situations, and most photos do include one or more these components. But many people don’t put much thought about these graphics when it comes to their own photography. Yet, recognizing the building blocks of composition is the first step toward making more successful - and more artistic - pictures.

Telephoto focal lengths lets you zero in on the graphics while leaving out distractions. For the two Las Vegas images above - captured with a "normal" fixed 50mm on a full-frame DSLR - I moved physically closer to fill the frame with my subjects.

A tripod not only helps you achieve the best in image quality, but also lets you more easily fine-tune compositions. At the same time, for many of the scenes shown here, I was able to use a small aperture for more depth of field without having to rack up the ISO to a noisy level.

February 01, 2012

The traditional way of creating a pleasing composition for a well-balanced picture, the Rule of Thirds has been used in fine arts for centuries. Photographers have adopted it as well, as an alternative to composing with the subject centered with a "bull's eye" approach. Actually a principle of visual design and not a rule per se, it recommends placing the subject, or the most important line in the scene, at one of the recommended locations within the image area.

The landscape photo illustrates a Rule of Thirds composition with the most important subject area, the person's head, placed at or near one of the points where the imaginary grid lines intersect. When a scene includes an obvious line, as in the sunset image, place that approximately along one of the imaginary grid lines. (c) 2010 Peter K. Burian

Imagine that your camera’s viewing screen (or the LCD in Live View) is etched with grid lines like a tic-tac-toe game. When composing a scene, position the most important small subject at or near one of the four points where the lines would meet. Whether the most important small subject is a distant pyramid, a red shed in a farm landscape or a bright green apple on a tree, place it at one of the intersecting points. And if there's a horizon or other line, compose so that it's positioned at or near one of the grid lines.

Note: Some digital cameras allow you to select a function that projects a grid pattern over the image but the grid is rarely designed for the Rule of Thirds. Some newer cameras do provide two or more options for the type of grid pattern and that often does include one that works well for the Rule of Thirds.

Here are some additional suggestions about applying this guideline for effective composition:

When you want to emphasize a dramatic sky, place the horizon along the lower line in your imaginary grid. If the sky is dull, but still important to the story of the photo, place it along the higher line.

In a wide-angle photo with a small primary (off-center) subject, there may be too much empty space in the frame around it. If all of that “negative space” is distracting, try to include another smaller or more distant object that relates to the subject, such as a colourful bush in a landscape photo.

Sometimes, the subject will be quite large in the frame, as in a portrait of a person or an animal. In that case, place the most important small element, such as the closest eye in a portrait, at one of the intersecting points.

While I am not recommending rigid adherence to the Rule of Thirds, it is a valuable starting point for serious composition. Frankly, most experienced photographers often deviate from the recommendations for specific reasons.

Before you do so, however, it’s worth knowing and practicing the proven guideline. After it becomes second nature, begin to experiment by breaking the so-called rule. But do so knowingly and intentionally.

Finally, show only your most successful images to others and you will develop a reputation as a photographer with a “good eye”.

Although JPEG is the standard format used by cameras, there's another option that's becoming quite common. All of the interchangeable-lens cameras and the better digicams also allow for Raw capture. If your camera provides this mode, read on, because you'll want to use it for your most important photos.

How it works: In Raw capture mode, the camera records raw data from the sensor in a special format such as Nikon's NEF. Your in-camera settings for white balance, exposure compensation, contrast, sharpening and colour saturation are recorded, but they are not locked into the image data. After you download the Raw photos to a computer, all of these settings can be retained or they can be modified using the special software bundled with the camera. (Other programs, including some from Adobe, can also be used.) When the photo looks just right, convert it to a familiar format, preferably TIF.

When you're taking photos that are very important, it's worth switching from JPG to Raw capture mode. This alternative will retain the best possible image quality both in the camera and later when you must modify technical aspects with computer software. (Adobe Camera Raw screen) (c) Peter K. Burian

Hint: TIF is a better format than JPEG for use in a computer. A JPEG must be re-compressed each time you modify and close it, with an additional loss of data. However, the compression used for a TIF is "lossless". There's no detectable loss of quality caused by the process.

The Primary Benefits: A Raw photo provides the absolutely best quality a camera can produce. When you shoot a JPEG, data is lost when it's saved to the memory card. That's because the compression process discards pixels in order to save the photo in a small JPEG file. Later, when you open the JPEG in a computer, your software ADDS pixels to rebuild the file so it’s returned to the full size. Problem is, the process is not perfect. There will always be some loss of image quality although it won't be serious if you used the Fine JPEG option.

While a Raw file may also be compressed, that process is "lossless": the change in image quality will be virtually undetectable. But there's another reason for shooting in the Raw vs. JPEG format. A Raw file offers much greater latitude for correction of many aspects. In other words, many changes can be made in the converter software without damaging the photo; (this is called a non-destructive process). The ability to change many aspects of a photo can be useful for correcting technical problems.

Let’s say you were shooting under sodium-vapor lighting with Auto White Balance, and your images all exhibit a strange colour cast. Or perhaps you were shooting a light-toned scene (such as a snowy landscape) and many of your images are underexposed. Or you might have set the colour saturation level to High in-camera, and skin tones are much too ruddy. That's not a problem if you were shooting in Raw mode since all those aspects (and many others) can be modified in the converter software. While intense changes will still cause some damage to the pixels, more typical modifications will produce minimal problems.

Of course, photos that were made in JPEG capture can also be corrected or enhanced with common image-editing programs. When the changes that you must make are small, and few, the damage to the pixels may not be noticeable unless you make a very large print. However, it can be impossible to properly correct major problems without seriously degrading JPEG image quality. This applies even if you convert your JPEGs to TIF before working on them in software. No conventional image format is as resilient as Raw.

The Drawbacks: In spite of the benefits, it's unlikely that you'll use Raw capture for every shot. The files are larger than JPEGs and that can slow the recording time, a problem in action photography, for example. They can also quickly fill up your memory card and they will consume a lot more space in your computer. Finally, you’ll need to spend extra time at a computer, enhancing the raw data and converting the files to TIF. When you return from a trip with hundreds, or thousands of photos, that can be extremely time-consuming.

The Bottom Line: Unless you're a fanatic about the quality of every shot, you'll probably shoot Large/Fine JPEGs most of the time. Use in-camera overrides such as exposure compensation and the white balance options to minimize technical problems. This approach will provide very good image quality in-camera and you won't need to make many damaging changes to your photos with software. But when you absolutely must be sure of getting a perfect image, switch to Raw capture mode and take advantage of its significant benefits. Use it particularly for important events, or once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunities and you’ll have extra peace of mind.